Health Watch: Modify your meal habits to lose weight

Friday

May 9, 2014 at 1:01 AM

Tip of the WeekYou work out hard in the gym and get in those 10,000 steps a day, but the scale still isn’t budging. What gives? It’s time to take a long, hard look at your meal habits and see what needs to be modified. Here are three simple fixes to get you back on track:Make breakfast king. There’s an old saying that goes, “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper.” To maintain a healthy weight, your first meal should always be the largest. Studies have shown that those who eat a good early breakfast weigh less than those who skip it. Think of breakfast as the “on” switch for your body – it’ll get your metabolism moving and provide the necessary energy boost.Stop skipping meals. People trying to lose weight often think that skipping a meal is a fitness shortcut. Less food, fewer calories and big weight loss, right? Wrong! When you skip a meal, you are sabotaging your body. No food to digest slows down your metabolism, and your body will break down its next meal slower and store the food as fat. Plus, skipping a meal causes your blood sugar to drop, which leads to feeling sluggish and tired. Yikes. For weight loss success, eat throughout the day.Nix nighttime nibbling. Mindless late-night munching can pack on the pounds fast. After dinner it’s OK to have some sort of treat – you’re human after all – but after that, no more. If you are consciously aware of that creep to your cupboards come 9 p.m., use strategies to stop the snacking. While you’re watching TV at night, get out of the kitchen, chew gum or brush your teeth. And when temptation really hits hard, drink decaffeinated tea or a glass of water, and then decide if you’re still hungry.Focus on these three meal modifications next week and see how your body changes. Odds are the results will be positive.-Life FitnessNumber to Know24: A body mass index or BMI of 24 is considered normal weight.Children’s HealthWith warmer weather here, it’s time to be water-wise. A child can drown in 1 inch of water. Never leave kids alone near filled-buckets, bathtubs, toilets, wading or swimming pools, or any body of water. Moms and dads should learn CPR and stay within an arm’s length of young swimmers. Medical sources at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia also insist kids wear a fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device on all boats at all times.- BrandpointSenior HealthYou may not think you’ll ever need a pacemaker, but statistics show that the number of people getting them is on the rise. If you are diagnosed with a slow heart beat - also known as bradycardia - you may need a pacemaker. Remember, an estimated 50 to 75 percent of people with a pacemaker may need to undergo an MRI scan at some point of their lives, so a pacemaker that is MRI compatible may be a wise choice.- BrandpointNew ResearchOne in 10 people suffer from depression, and now researchers from the University of Texas Southwestern have discovered how a natural antidepressant hormone works in the brain, according to Medical News Today. The scientists found that ghrelin had natural antidepressant properties that are prominent when its levels increase due to prolonged psychological stress or caloric restriction. The hormone can trigger the formation of new neurons in the hippocampus - the brain region that regulates mood, memory and complex eating behaviors.